Shane Victorino's line drive was headed toward the gap, and the only question was whether the ball would leave Fenway Park for a grand slam.

The ball struck high on the Green Monster, but the damage was done. The blast put the Red Sox up 3-0 early in Wednesday night's Game 6, and the packed bar at Libby's Bar and Grill on Main Street was loving it.

“Yeah, baby,” shouted one young man.

Another yelled, “We got three!”

More than 200 people jammed into Libby's in hopes of seeing the Sox clinch their third World Series title in a decade.

Although seats were hard to come by in the first inning, by the fourth people were stacked two and three deep watching TVs above the bar.

While the room skewed young, it wasn't just students.

“It's lively for a Wednesday,” said Cailee Palm, 22, from West Newburyport, Mass. “A little more diverse as well.”

Tom Lee, 62, was among the oldest people there. He was drawn to Libby's to be with a large crowd when the Sox clinched it.

“It's very polite and very pleasant,” said the Lee resident. “It's a good place to be.”

A few seats over, Kevin Hardman watched with six or eight friends. Libby's is their bar of choice, but on Wednesday he had few alternatives to see the game.

“I don't have a TV or cable at my house, so we had no choice but to go to the bar,” said Hardman, who lives in Dover.

Jim Freeley, 23, had a prime seat at the bar with a direct view of the TVs. He said the atmosphere was unbeatable.

“It's nuts,” said Freeley, who wore a personalized Red Sox jersey and a fake beard, I was at the Cask'n Flagon in Boston for Game 3 and it's better here.”

As the sox clung to a 3-0 lead, he had little doubt they would pull it out.

“It's one of those seasons,” he said, adding that the team's ability to bounce back after two tough seasons and the impact of the Boston Marathon bombings made this postseason run feel different.

As the runs kept coming and the end grew nearer, the atmosphere mellowed some.

Plays were still celebrated with cheers and bouts of applause, but a sense of tense inevitability set in. The Cardinals players even seemed to feel it.